Park District Drops Plan To Open Meeting Minutes

April 07, 1993|By Suzanne G. Hlotke.

Carol Stream — Hayes Barclay, the attorney for the Carol Stream Park District, has admitted that he made an error in judgment when he told commissioners that it was legal to open closed meeting minutes to select individuals.

"I made a judgment call, and I made a wrong one in the heat of the moment," Barclay said Monday night during a meeting the board called to reverse its earlier decision. "I reflected on it the next day, and I realized if we opened minutes up to anyone, it was open to everyone."

Last week, acting on Barclay's advice, the board voted to allow representatives of three youth sports organizations to review all closed-session minutes from the last six months pertaining to land acquisition.

Barclay had told the board that it was not releasing minutes to the representatives, but were allowing them to review them. He said last week that it was legal to allow selective review, and denied accusations from Village Board members at that meeting that what he was suggesting was illegal.

Barclay also said that he gave the advice because the owner of the property, Philip Hartsing, was present at that meeting.